Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was a Soviet and Russian politician who was the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1985, and additionally as head of state from 1988. Ideologically, he initially adhered to Marxism–Leninism, but moved towards social democracy by the early 1990s.
Biography from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Mikhail Gorbachev in our timeline
- Gorbachev Opens Party Congress (February 25, 1986)
- Soviet Silence on Chernobyl (May 6, 1986)
- Reagan Demands Wall Come Down (June 12, 1987)
- Gorbachev Meets Kohl, Endorses German Reunification (February 10, 1990)
- Gorbachev Becomes President (March 14, 1990)
- Charter of Paris Signed (November 19, 1990)
- Gorbachev Placed Under House Arrest (August 18, 1991)
- Soviet Communist Party Suspended (August 29, 1991)
Also born on March 2
- Daniel Craig1968 · English actor
- Anthony Albanese1963 · Prime Minister of Australia since 2022
- Chris Martin1977 · English singer-songwriter
- Jon Bon Jovi1962 · American rock singer-songwriter
- Mauricio Pochettino1972 · Argentine football manager
- Dr. Seuss1904 · American author and cartoonist
- Lou Reed1942 · American rock musician
- Pope Pius XII1876 · Head of the Catholic Church from 1939 to 1958
Also born in 1931
- Robert Duvall1931 · American actor and filmmaker
- Rupert Murdoch1931 · American business magnate
- James Dean1931 · American actor
- Boris Yeltsin1931 · President of Russia from 1991 to 1999
- A. P. J. Abdul Kalam1931 · President of India from 2002 to 2007
- William Shatner1931 · Canadian actor
- Anne Bancroft1931 · American actress
- Raúl Castro1931 · First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 2011 to 2021